Assam recorded the highest rate of crimes against women in the country, according to the annual National Crime Record Bureau’s “Crime in India” 2020 report released on Wednesday. The rate is calculated according to the number of crimes recorded in a population of every one lakh.

In India, the total number of crimes against women fell from 4,05,326 in 2019 to 3,71,503 last year.

The majority of the cases registered were related to “cruelty by husband or his relatives” (30%), followed by “assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty” (23%). As much as 7.5% of the total crimes against women were rapes.

Overall, a total of 66,01,285 crimes were registered in the country under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and special and local laws. The numbers marked a 28% increase in all crimes as compared to 51,56,158 cases in 2019.

A total of 25,65,448 accused persons were named in the chargesheets in 2020. Of these, 8,76,553 were convicted, 1,17,539 were acquitted and 13,755 were discharged.

UP recorded the highest number of crimes against women

This was the fourth consecutive year that Assam has reported the highest rate of crimes against women among all states, according to the Hindustan Times.

In Assam, the rate of crimes against women last year stood at 154.3, followed by Odisha at 112.9 and Telangana at 95.4.

In terms of the number of crimes against women, Uttar Pradesh, similar to 2019, recorded the highest number. However, the number of crimes against women in the country’s largest state fell from 59,853 in 2019 to 49,385 in 2020.

Rajasthan recorded the highest number of rape cases (5,310). This was followed by Uttar Pradesh (2,769), Madhya Pradesh (2,339) and Maharashtra (2,061).

Among the larger states, Tamil Nadu (17.4) recorded the lowest rate of crimes against women.

Crimes against SCs and STs

Uttar Pradesh (12,714) recorded the highest number of crimes against Scheduled Castes in 2020. However, in terms of rate, it ranked fourth among all states with 30.7 crimes being committed against per lakh population of Scheduled Castes in the state.

Madhya Pradesh had the highest rate of 60.8, followed by Rajasthan (57.4) and Bihar (44.5). The total number of crimes against Scheduled Castes rose from 45,961 in 2019 to 50,291 in 2020, the report showed.

As much as 8.5% of the crimes against Scheduled Castes were registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, while 7.5% of them were related to criminal intimidation.

In crimes against Scheduled Tribes, Kerala recorded the highest rate at 26.8, followed by Rajasthan at 20.3 and Telangana at 17.4.

According to the data, 13.7% of the crimes against Scheduled Tribes were of rape, while 10.7% of them were related to assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty.

Crimes against children

The total number of crimes against children in the country dropped from 1,48,090 in 2019 to 1,28,531 in 2020, the data showed. Of these, about 55.3% were cases of kidnapping and 32.4% cases were related to sexual offences.

Sikkim recorded the highest rate (71.4) among all states. However, the sample size of crimes in the state was much smaller as compared to others. Among major states, Madhya Pradesh had the highest rate at 59.1, followed by Chhattisgarh at 51.9.

A total of 5,974 cases were filed against juveniles, a decline of 13.2% from 2019.

Sedition and UAPA

Among the larger states, Uttar Pradesh registered the highest number of sedition cases. Jharkhand topped the list among the major states when it came to the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act). Uttar Pradesh ranked the second among the major states that have used the UAPA against individuals.

Overall, the most number of cases related to sedition and the UAPA were registered in Manipur.

Metropolitan cities

Kolkata emerged as the safest metropolitan city in the country with a crime rate of 109.9, according to the data. Delhi had the highest crime rate of 1,506.9, followed by Chennai (1,016.4).

Overall, 9,24,016 crimes were registered in the 19 metropolitan cities with a population of more than 20 lakh. This marked a 7.6% increase in number of crimes from 2019.